When the Four Asian Tigers Strike
by brewcha
Summary: Set in Gakuen Hetalia - Im Yong Soo, Wan Wang, Max Wang and Rachel Chan make up the Four Asian Tigers of their school. Let's follow their awesome adventures of friendship, rivalry and romance!
1. Chapter 1

**Heh, I always wanted to a fanfic of these four.**

**Sooo...uuuh...this fanfic is gonna revolve around these four, focusing on friendship, drama, family, school life and...ROMANCE.  
**

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**Chapter 1**

"The test results are up! Let's go see!" Wan hustled her three friends to where a large group of students, surrounding a large board that held the list of student's marks, in descending order.

"Geez, you're so slow! C'mon!" Rachel caught Max in a headlock, much to his annoyance, and dragged him towards the crowd ahead of Yong Soo and Wan, pushing other students away with her other hand with such force that Max could not manage to defeat. Finally, she was able to make a pathway for her friends to go through until they stood right in front of the board.

Max, after managing to pry Rachel's arm from his neck, scanned the words until he found the words he was looking for. "Over there." He pointed towards the section where it showed only the results of the 1st year students.

The four stared at the list intensely before Rachel burst into a fit of mad laughter. "I beat you again, Max!" Max furrowed his brows in annoyance to see that the Singaporean's name was at the very top, while he was just below her. Like always.

"But Max did well, in my opinion!" Wan objected, giving her twin brother a prod. She glanced up and down and spotted her name in the sea of words. "Hey, I didn't do very bad either!"

"Ah hah! Good test results originated from Korea, as always!" Im Yong Soo announced proudly, putting his hands on his hips.

Only Max didn't look very happy with his results. It wasn't the first time he was just behind Rachel. In fact, he and Rachel were in the exact same middle school and class for three years, and he was always just behind her. In studies, in sports, in pretty much everything.

"Cheer up there, Maxy!" Rachel caught him in a playful headlock again, ruffling his hair. "You should be used to it by now!" She teased.

"The day I become used to it would be the day the world ends." Max retorted, pushing her off him. He brushed his shoulders, the corner of his mouth twitching in annoyance.

"Let's hope it'll be 2012 then soon, I guess." Rachel stuck her tongue out at him.

"Let's not fight," Wan interjected. "We're blocking the way." She gestured towards the other students who were all trying to get a better view of the results.

"Heh." Yong Soo slipped away quickly, and the other three followed suit.

As soon as they were out, they were confronted by a certain American classmate. "What did you guys get?" Alfred F. Jones asked loudly.

"Just the best score ever! I'm at the top." Rachel declared proudly. "Oh and Max got second." She pointed at Max.

"Not surprised." Alfred grinned. He turned to Wan and Yong Soo expectantly.

"Near the top, but not quite." Wan replied, not at all disappointed. "Pretty good though."

"Same here, da ze! What about you, Alfred-ssi?" Yong Soo asked curiously.

Alfred shrugged. "I haven't seen it yet. I don't suppose you saw it already?" He cocked his head towards him questioningly.

"Third, Alfred, third! Our marks," She added, pointing towards Max, Alfred and herself. "Were pretty close."

"Awesome!" Alfred cheered. If he was disappointed that he didn't get any higher than that, he didn't show it. "I'm going to see what Arthur got. See ya!" He waved before running off to find a certain thick-browed Brit.

Rachel watched him go before turning to the other three. "It's strange how Alfred loves slacking off so much yet he gets good marks for his tests." It was true. The American hardly ever pays attention in class, and it's not like he every listens to anyone at all. Plus, his History is quite bad. Unless it involved the United States of America.

"Speak for yourself." Max said. Rachel was probably like Alfred's counterpart or something. Because she's almost the same. Except she knew when to be serious and when to not be serious. Well, maybe she wasn't his counterpart after all.

"Well, it's not like it's a really big test or anything," Wan shrugged. "Not some end-of-term exam or whatever. So it's no big deal."

"You're too carefree, Wan!" Rachel objected. "Every test is a big deal!"

Max rolled his eyes, covering his ears with his hands. "Can you guys speak any louder?" His reply was a punch on his shoulders, quite obviously coming from Rachel.

-o-

The four were on their way back to their classroom when Wan suddenly ducked behind Max, looking quite flustered. Rachel, Max and Yong Soo paused and glanced at her questioningly.

"What's up, Wan?" Yong Soo asked.

Max blinked once and looked up, and his expression changed from confusion to indifference. "Look." He pointed.

Rachel and Yong Soo glanced in the direction where Max was pointing and both stifled a giggle. Not far from where they were standing, was a group of three juniors. The four recognized the group immediately. The Italian fluttering about was Feliciano Vargas, a carefree happy-go-lucky guy who likes pasta and ladies and all things Italian. The tall blonde next to him was Ludwig Beilschmidt, a strict and intelligent German who likes to eat potatoes and sausages. And, lastly, the shorter male with short black hair was Kiku Honda, a polite Japanese who is a little uneasy around Westerners until he got to know a little bit more around them.

Wan glanced up only to look down again, her face redder than ever. Rachel huffed in amusement, knowing that she was suddenly so subconscious because of Kiku. It was already pretty clear that Wan had a crush on Kiku, and it wasn't very surprising.

"C'mon, Wan! When are you going to just go up and talk to him properly?" Im Yong Soo asked, nudging her slightly.

Wan shook her head furiously. "No! I mean...ah...I haven't found the right time."

Rachel frowned. "You've had a crush on him since...like, forever now. I'm not telling you to ask him out or anything, but at least befriend him some more? Y'know...so something could-"

"Hey, Kiku!" Rachel broke off as Max lifted a hand and waved the Japanese over.

Kiku looked up from his conversation with Ludwig and Feliciano and all three of them looked up. Wan instantly kicked her brother's foot as Max beckoned him over.

Kiku blinked in surprise but his expression softened with recognition, as he had met the four of them quite a few times and he already knew them quite well. He said something politely and apologetically to Ludwig and Feliciano, who both didn't look like they minded. Feliciano laughed and pulled Ludwig away, chattering away about something that involved, obviously, food.

Wan found herself shrinking and clutching Max's uniform tightly as Kiku approached them, with a friendly smile on his face.

"Hi Kaoru-kun, Yong Soo, Rachel and, ah, Wan-chan."

Max pressed his palm against his face. "I told you not to call me that, Kiku."

Kiku remained smiling. "I apologize, but it is hard for me to stop now. I've been calling you that since you were little." Max and Wan actually knew Kiku when they were rather young, mainly because their older brother Yao already knew Kiku. Im Yong Soo also knew Kiku quite a bit. Rachel had only met him when she was in middle school.

Max shrugged. Kiku glanced at all four of them. "Was there something you need?"

"Ah yes," Max stepped out of the way and Yong Soo pushed Wan forward. "Wan wanted to say something to you."

Wan glared at them as Kiku blinked in surprise. "What is it?"

Wan absentmindedly twirled a strand of her long brown hair, trying to improvise real quick. She didn't have anything to say to him to be honest, and she was so not going to ask him out like _that. _And she didn't want to say she actually had nothing to say and make a fool out of herself in front of _him._

"Uuuh...ah...w-well..." Wan shifted uneasily. "I just...I just wanted to say hi! Yeah! I-I just wanted to say hi and ask how are you...doing..." She found herself trailing away when she saw the look Kiku was giving her. He looked a bit...surprised and confused, and she saw amusement.

"Oh, well, I'm doing fine. You?" Kiku tilted his head towards her, leaning forward a bit.

"Great! Good! Perfectly fine!" Rachel noticed Wan's voice sounded a bit more high-pitched than usual, but she was always like this when talking to the Japanese.

"That's good." Kiku smiled. He nodded to the others. "If it's alright...I'll get going now..." He backed away with a polite nod to the younger students before turning away to join the other juniors.

Wan sagged, leaning on Rachel for support. "Did you guys _have _to do that?"

"Well sorry~" Yong Soo snickered. "But Wan _really _looked kinda stupid—Ow!" He winced as Wan slapped him on the shoulder with a scowl. "Okay okay, calm down, da ze!"

Rachel laughed and patted Wan. "Don't get so worked up. C'mon, let's get to class."

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**Liked that? Good.**

**I would like to say that there will be a North Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia in future chapters. Maybe for minor appearances, maybe not. Who knows? I have TWO requests I'm gonna ask you readers.**

**One. I need help thinking of names for Vietnam and Thailand. I want to name Viet 'Thien Quang', but I think my friend might get mad at me since it's HIS name...and someone told me that it's a girl name and stuff...so yeah. And it's a little unoriginal too. I'm not sure about Thai but Viet would definitely make some appearances.**

**Two. Who should I pair the four with? Wan is obviously gonna be with Kiku, OR she could have a crush on him but in the end she goes out with someone else! It works fine too but yeah. Who should Max, Rachel and Yong Soo end up with? Or at least like or have some kind of close bond/relationship with? Crack is fine, as long as it is het. Some yaoi might worm its way into the story, but it would be either very subtle, minor or nothing fluffy or intense.**

**So...hope you enjoyed the first chapter!  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**A new chapter! And I'm only updating so soon because I wrote this beforehand. Next time won't be so quick!**

**By the way, is it natural if your profile page take ages to finish loading, even though your internet connection is perfectly fine? Or that you check your list of stories and suddenly it seems as though one of them has disappeared but when you check your 'My Stories', it did not? Is it just me or is it natural?**

**

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Chapter 2**

World Academy was a pretty chaotic school. Well, mostly in the high school section.

"Alfred, you bloody git! Get back here right now!"

"Brother...brother...where are yooouuu...?"

"Aiyaaaaa! Don't grab onto me like that, aru!"

"Don't touch my brother you potato bastard!"

"Liet you should, like, totally wear a skirt!"

"..."

"AIIIEEEEEEEEEEE, GET YOUR DIRTY HANDS OFF ME YOU WINE BASTARD."

But it's like this everyday. And already the principal and teachers have given up trying to control them.

-o-

Max, Rachel, Wan and Yong Soo sat on the edge of the basketball field, watching their physical education teacher drill some other students in some basketball skills.

"Look, look at Alfred over there." Yong Soo leaned towards the others and jerked his head towards where the blonde was.

They all turned and saw that Alfred was currently flirting with Natalia, the scariest girl as far as anyone was concerned. She was a Russian-Belorussian, which was just another way of saying she was a Russian born in Belarus. She's also obsessed with her brother, Ivan, who was a junior, just like Kiku. Natalia was pretty creepy, but only if it involved her brother, otherwise she's pretty emotionless.

Apparently Alfred's flirty efforts proved to be fruitless, as Natalia blankly stared ahead, ignoring him completely. Everyone knew pretty well that if it currently wasn't lesson time and no teacher was around, she would just flash a dagger at you if you were really getting on her nerves. Alfred eventually shifted away and minded his own business.

Rachel and Wan exchanged amused glances and they, and the other two boys, turned their attention to somebody else.

Adelheid was pretty good with dribbling and throwing but she had trouble catching. Mainly because the thrower had a pretty strong throwing force and it was too much for Adelheid's tiny body to hold. It was obvious why. Adelheid had an older brother named Vash in second year and he was _super _overprotective over Adelheid. One look and you'd think Vash never even _allowed _Adelheid to stand up for herself or even do anything physically challenging. But it was brotherly love, and Max, Rachel, Wan and Yong Soo all had brothers, so they kind of understood.

Adelheid, although pretty, sweet and cute, wasn't a popular choice for boys to flirt with. One slip and Vash would be on your heels. Rumours said he was pretty handy with guns, and once shot a man.

Jon acted like Max. He was constantly annoyed by other people (mainly his older brother Alexander, Alexander's "friend" Claus and Max, to be honest) and never spoke a lot. He was from Iceland, though he was adopted into a Norwegian family, with Alexander standing as his older brother. He always refused to call Alexander his 'older brother' even though the Norwegian often bugged him to call him 'big brother'. Claus was Alexander's Danish friend and often joined in with the bugging. Jon liked puffins, apparently.

"Ugh! Mind if I scooch in with you?" Rachel looked up at the sound of Charlotte's voice.

"Sure, no problem." Rachel patted the spot beside her. Wan flashed the pigtailed girl a smile and asked, "Alfred?"

"Who else?" Charlotte rolled her eyes and all three of them giggled.

Charlotte was a feisty girl who was born and raised on the islands of Seychelles. Charlotte loved beaches and the ocean, and also fish and other marine life. Rachel liked her because Charlotte was really confident and had guts, and both of them liked the beach. Charlotte was also pretty good with French.

"Watch Matthew go, da ze!" Yong Soo suddenly cried and all heads turned to see a blonde clutching a basketball, looking quite determined as he glared up at the hoop. One glance and you might've thought he was Alfred. In fact, lots of people always mistook him for Alfred. Poor guy, Matthew was always kind of invisible. He was always mistook for Alfred but nobody ever mistook Alfred for Matthew Williams. And Matthew always gets irritated when people think he was from America even though he had explained a dozen times that he was Canadian. He and Alfred get along pretty well though, and although they were not, they were like brothers. They were actually childhood friends, and currently lived together. Matthew loved pancakes, maple syrup and hockey. In fact, he was the best hockey player in probably the whole school.

Matthew held his breath and jumped, throwing the basketball. He widened his eyes and watched as the brown ball fell through the hoop perfectly! Everyone cheered, because Matthew was so good at hockey that it was often quite hard to believe he was good at other sports.

"Good job, uh, Alfred." The teacher patted the Canadian on the back.

Matthew opened his mouth to say something but he was dismissed. Rolling his eyes in exasperation, he sat down beside Alfred, who gave him a friendly pat on the back.

If there was anybody else in the class that had a close resemblance to another person in the class, it was Im Hyung Soo. But that was only because Hyung and Yong were twins. Even so, they were completely opposites via personality.

Yong Soo was outgoing, hyper and energetic. A bit like Alfred, but Yong doesn't flirt as much. Hyung Soo was more serious, and apparently he doesn't spend much time befriending other people. He focuses more on his studies and other 'serious' and 'more important' things. Hyung also had some fascination towards nuclear weapons, as proven with the amount of books, papers and internet research on that topic.

The two lived together from the beginning, but at one point they separated and lived in different houses. Hyung Soo then one day tried to get Yong Soo to live together, and then drama ensued and stuff that wasn't really any other people's business happened. Now they lived together. Not really. They lived in the house they used to live in before all the drama happened but Hyung Soo's room was completely out of bounds to absolutely _anyone, _and he never left it except for typical reasons like use the bathroom or leave the house.

"Break time!" The piercing sound of the teacher's whistle cracked the air.

-o-

The four sat down heavily, glad that Physical Education was over and that it was lunch time. They were all quite out of breath.

"You'd think that we were in the National Service or something!" Rachel said.

"I thought you'd be used to that kind of thing." Max replied, earning a shove from the Singaporean.

"I'm just glad that it's over." Wan interjected before they could fight. "I think having Yao breathing down my neck all the time is scarier than our teacher."

"Scarier than NS?" Rachel joked, leaning forward.

Yong Soo propped his chin up with his palm. "What does he do?"

Max rolled his eyes. "Yao doesn't like Wan befriending the other students that he doesn't approve. Like Alfred for instance."

"Oh yeah! I remember, da ze!" Yong agreed. "Alfred-ssi was asking Wan out once."

Wan sighed. "And big brother totally freaked out. I mean, it's not like I like Alfred or anything, but so what if I didn't say no? He should know by now that I can be independent!"

Rachel laughed. "Well, if I were him, I wouldn't be happy either. Alfred asks a girl out every few months. But you're right."

"And I don't see brother treating _you _like that either, Max!" Wan nudged Max.

"Maybe it's because I'm a guy."

"I don't think so. Remember there was a time when you lived with Arthur's family for a while? And you came back with those huge eyebrows?" Wan pointed out. Max frowned at the mention of his horribly thick eyebrows.

"Yeah, but I can handle most stuffs better than you, Wan." Max protested. "And you're a girl and more prone to stuff like accidents and guys hitting on you."

"Enough of Yao!" Wan interrupted in annoyance. "The mention of brother just spoils my food. _And _he's always hanging around Kiku!"

"Are you implying that he's gay?" Yong Soo asked, wide-eyed.

"My brothers are pretty overprotective too." Rachel cut in absentmindedly. "Plus they argue a lot. You know, between themselves."

"I still don't get how you can be siblings yet you have a completely different name." Max shook his head.

Rachel grinned. "I changed my name to prove to them I can do things independently. Maybe you should do that, Wan."

Wan shook her head, laughing, but did not answer. Yong Soo tilted his head towards Rachel. "How did they react?"

"Not entirely happy, but they got over it. In fact, they still call me 'Lena' once in a while. I mean, Malik mostly does that but yeah." Rachel shrugged.

"How's Daniel?" Max asked.

"Busy. He does most of the household chores." Rachel replied. "I mean, not that Malik and I are lazy, he's just more...mature."

"I think Daniel is _really _overprotective, Rachel," Wan giggled. "He's closer to you unlike Malik."

"And that's what drives Malik crazy. He really resents Daniel, for some reason." Rachel laughed. "I mean, Malik is the oldest and all."

Yong Soo blinked. "Unlike you all, Hyung and I are completely separate, da ze." He said with a nod. "Sometimes I'm afraid he'll build a nuclear bomb or something. Kiku is afraid too."

"Apparently he and Alfred hate each other." Rachel remarked. "Is that true?"

"How come you're so curious, Rachel?" Max said, wanting to get on Rachel's nerves again. "I thought you're pretty much friends with everyone?"

Rachel huffed, glaring at him. "I don't know everyone, doofus. Nor do I know everyone. Is it so wrong to be curious?"

"Besides, Hyung Soo doesn't talk to us that much." Wan backed Rachel up. "And Yong Soo doesn't talk a lot about him. Does he?" She glanced at Yong and he nodded. "Since we're on the subject of brothers I decided to mention him, da ze."

"Ever since we became friends and all, da ze," Yong said sadly. "I've been trying to get closer to Hyung. I mean, it doesn't seem right that we're always pretending we don't know each other, right?"

The others nodded in agreement. "Besides, I don't think Hyung Soo is completely friendless." Max commented. "He has his share of friends as well."

"I never saw him interact with others a lot, that's why." Rachel defended herself.

"Then you don't experience a lot."

"Shut up, wise ass."

"You zip it."

"No you zip it."

"I would love to but I would only do that if you do it first."

"That's what she said."

"Are you trying to imply anything sexual here?"

"You're the one who always draws perverted art and gets scolded by Yao."

"QUIET." Wan interrupted. The two instantly stopped bickering. "Good." Wan nodded and sat down, patting her skirt.

The four were silent for a while until Rachel broke the ghostly awkward silence. "Remember the time we got called 'the Four Asian Tigers'?" She said excitedly.

"Yes!" Yong nodded vigorously. "Wasn't it based on because we come from the countries that _are_ the Asian Tigers, da ze?"

"Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore, right?" Wan grinned. "Beware of the tigers!" She pretended to growl like a tiger, and it sounded quite real too.

Max smiled his rare smiles. "It's like we got recognized by the student body." He joked. "Not sure what kind of recognition though."

"Don't let Peter hear you say that." Rachel teased, referring to second year middle school boy who was a younger brother of Arthur Kirkland, a second year high schooler. "Ever since Arthur said he would be a high schooler soon, he's been declaring that he's a high school student and wants everyone to 'recognize' him." All four of them burst out laughing at that.

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**The Im Hyung Soo in this story belongs to Lo-Wah on deviantart. Not me. And I had permission to use him. Oh god that sounded so wrong.**

**Malik is Indonesia and Daniel is Malaysia o3o  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**Yeeeaaaah. There is some foreshadowing in this chapter, just so you know.  


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Chapter 3**

"And that is why you should stay away from him as much as possible, aru!"

"Yeah yeah..."

Max, Wan and Yao were on their way to school on their bicycles, as usual. Wan sat behind Max as Yao peddled furiously beside him, ranting on how the Westerners in their school should do this and not do that, and how Max and Wan (especially Wan, actually) should stay away from them.

Yao Wang was a senior in World Academy, and the eldest of the three. Although he was the oldest, he sure didn't act like it sometimes. He had a whole collection of what looked like a Hello Kitty with a creepy smile on it. He loved pandas and always brought a panda plushie to his school, sitting comfortably in his backpack. And not to mention, Yao looked quite feminine at times.

In the past, Yao was always bullied by his peers. His 'friends' would often help him in a pinch, but then would demand something from him. Or at other times they would just beat the crap out of him. Yao was friends with Alfred F. Jones, the annoying but unusually clever American classmate of Max and Wan's. Alfred was always borrowing money and other things from Yao, even though he was already quite rich.

Yao was also friends with three other students. Arthur Kirkland, a thick-browed British junior who likes to swear and has horrible cooking. Francis Bonnefoy, a flirty French senior who loves all things French and of course, wine and woman, but that doesn't stop him from flirting and molesting other males though. And Ivan Braginski, another junior who was the older brother of the creepy Natalia in Max and Wan's class. He was pretty childish and innocent looking, but he can be quite scary when offended or when he tries to be intimidating. He is unusually attached to Yao, much to his dismay, and to Natalia's jealousy.

"Wan? Wan, are you listening, aru?" When the two bicycles skidded to a halt just before the train tracks, Yao turned to Wan with a frown.

"Yes!" Wan blurted in frustration as the train rushed by. "And I wouldn't need to anyway since you're always talking about that about a million times!"

"Calm down, Wan." Max said, watching the train disappear out of sight. He wasn't really paying attention to the conversation.

"I'm just worried, aru." Yao said and they cycled off to school.

They stopped by at Kiku's apartment, and Yao hopped off his bicycle so he could walk with the Japanese and chat with him. If Kiku didn't look very happy with it, he didn't show it. Max paused his bicycle just beside Yao, but did not get off. Neither did Wan, but she hesitantly glanced at Kiku before looking away.

"Good morning, Yao-san, Kaoru-kun, Wan-chan." Kiku greeted them.

"Good morning, Kiku, aru!" Yao replied cheerfully. Max just nodded.

"G-g-good morning, Kiku..." Wan stammered.

Kiku smiled at her. "You look wonderful today, Wan-chan."

Yao tilted his head in confusion as Wan's face suddenly burst into colour. She spluttered, "I do? Um...thanks! Y-you look great as well!"

Max stifled a laugh. "See you later, Kiku."

"What? Don't you want to walk, aru?" Yao asked.

"No...I don't want to be late or anything. Come on Wan." Max replied, giving his sister a nudge. Wan looked a bit disappointed that she did not get to walk with Kiku, but then if she did she would have to walk with Yao as well. So she nodded.

"See you later." Kiku waved as Max sped off while Yao shook his head.

"Seriously, aru! I'm sure he would have crashed by now if he was driving a car, aru!" Yao said, exasperated.

-o-

On the way Max and Wan met up with Rachel and Yong Soo. The Korean had been on _his _bike and met up with Rachel.

"Why aren't you with your brothers?" Wan asked.

"I like to go to school ahead of Malik and Daniel. I'd ride _my _bicycle but it's in the shed and I've always walked to school so what the hey." Rachel replied.

"Lazy." Max muttered.

"Hyung and I never go to and from school together anyway. I sometimes try to get him to though, da ze." Yong shrugged. Rachel patted him on the back sympathetically.

"Where's Yao anyway?" Rachel asked.

Wan shrugged. "With Kiku. We met Kiku on the way and brother decided to walk with him."

Yong Soo glanced at her briefly. "Why didn't you as well?"

"Because Max just had to drag me away!" Wan said accusingly, poking Max's back with a finger. "But also because if I did, I'd be walking with brother as well!"

"...Good point." Rachel nodded in understanding, just as their school came to view.

As the boys skidded to a halt at the school gates, Wan warned, "Better not park your bikes too close to the entrance or the carpark, otherwise they might get rammed over."

It was true. There had been many cases that the shiny limousine Alfred rode in when he went to school would flatten several bicycles in the way, and possibly crash into a car or someone standing nearby. Once, Yong Soo swore that it flattened a bird, but nobody believed him until a student tried to retrieve a notebook from underneath the car.

"Somebody should sue him." Rachel rolled her eyes as she got off Yong's bicycle.

"Why don't _you _ride in some fancy sedan everyday to school anyway?" Max asked her.

Rachel tossed her head and laughed. "Just because my family is rich does not mean I have to show it off. Besides, you don't see me living in some fancy mansion now do I?"

"Good point." Max agreed with a nod as they all entered the school campus.

It was already quite busy in the campus as students chatted with one another, making their way to their homeroom classroom. It was pretty normal and typical as the four 'Asian Tigers' headed for their classroom, which basically meant that it was just another day in World Academy and chaos was happening as usual though nobody was really surprised.

-o-

Besides Natalia chasing Ivan across the school, Francis groping a couple of students, a third year student called Elisaveta chasing a classmate called Gilbert with a frying pan in her hand, Vash beating Alfred up for flirting with Adelheid, a second year student called Heracles getting into a serious fistfight with a third year named Sadiq, a second year named Raivis fainting all of a sudden in the middle of a class, Arthur and Charlotte yelling at each other for some reason, the day passed by relatively nicely.

"Did you know that Kiku taught Elisaveta how to draw?" Wan suddenly said, in the middle of arts class.

"Mhm...yeah, what about it?" Rachel replied.

Wan shrugged. "You should see all the stuff she came up with."

Yong Soo looked over his canvas. "What stuff?"

Max came over with a towel, wiping his hands. "Boy and boy love."

Rachel jumped, nearly upsetting the cup of dirty water beside her with her elbow. She spluttered, "W-what? Gay stuff?"

Wan nodded. "Elisaveta had been quite into that kind of stuff, apparently. I was in the locker room changing out of my PE attire when I saw her camera lying around."

"What was in it?" Yong rolled his sleeves up and squeezed red and blue paint onto his hands before smearing them onto his canvas.

While Rachel grimaced at Yong's action, Wan said, "Photos of..."

"Gay stuff." Max finished for her quite bluntly, calmly drawing on his canvas with his palette in one hand and his brush in the other.

"You shouldn't have look into other people's camera!" Rachel said, watching Yong Soo wipe his hands clean before covering them with yellow and green paint. "Ew, don't put your hands so near your face, Yong!"

"I'm not going to lick them, da ze, don't worry," Yong Soo rolled his eyes while Wan shrugged. "I know, but I was curious. I've seen her a few times clicking here and there with her camera, looking pretty sneaky and sly. And nosebleeding."

"Did you return it?" Yong Soo asked, wiping his cheek with his sleeve.

"I gave it to Arthur since he's the prefect and everything." Wan shuddered. "But I think I was scarred for life."

"Well, if Elisaveta likes that kind of things we shouldn't argue," Max said, still painting intently. "We all have our weird interests."

"Didn't I see you reading this doujinshi thingy anyway?" Yong asked Wan. "When we went to an anime convention with Kiku? I remember there were two guys..."

"I was curious!" Wan objected. "I didn't expect it would...aaah..." She hid her face behind her canvas, and Max noticed she was covering her nose with her hand.

"Yong! Don't splatter paint over my drawing!" Rachel suddenly protested, putting her hands on her hips and turning to face Yong Soo.

Yong shrank under her glare but snickered. "It looks pretty well, da ze."

"No it doesn't! You don't see a few random drops of green and yellow on a drawing of a sunset in a city, now do you?"

"Eeh...maybe you should add more so it wouldn't look so weird..."

"YONG!"

Wan giggled, guessing that an argument between Rachel and Max was a hundred times worse than an argument between Rachel and Im Yong Soo, and made no move to stop it. Max suddenly looked up from his canvas, "I'm done."

Rachel stopped trying to force Yong to press his paint-covered hands on his face and glanced up. "Really? Let me see."

Yong sprang to his feet while Max stepped back to let everyone have a view.

"What in the world is this?" Rachel slapped her forehead while Yong ran to fetch some tissue. Wan took one luck and shook her head.

"It's art." Was Max's reply.

"Well, yeah, I can see. But didn't Yao say he would mosaic it the next time he saw you make this kind of art?"

"...It was an illusion."

"What?"

"Exactly."

-o-

"Thank God this is an international school, aru!" Yao let out a loud sigh of exasperation.

"Why?" Francis leaned over, way too closely, towards Yao.

Yao frowned. "I have my hands full of Wan and Max, aru! I wouldn't have any time to study, aru."

"Ah, Max?" Arthur spoke, zipping forward so that he hid Francis from view. "Annoying little bugger. I expect he's been causing some problems?"

"Of course not, aru!" Yao replied. "I don't want Wan getting too close to the other students here, aru! Especially after what happened, aru!" He added, glaring at Alfred, who was sitting on his desk.

"What?" Alfred returned the gaze defensively. "I was just asking her out! No harm done!"

"But surely it isn't wrong? Becoming one, da?" Ivan said mysteriously, standing behind Yao. Everyone decided to ignore him, or pretend they didn't understand.

"I'm keeping an eye on that Max," Arthur frowned. "Especially now that he is hanging out with Yong Soo and Rachel of all people." Arthur knew Rachel fairly well, and her brother Daniel as well. Sweet at first but a pain in the arse the next. Still, she was quite intelligent. He glanced over his shoulder to where Rachel's oldest brother, Malik, was. He was currently in the corner of the room, conversing animatedly with Sadiq.

"Malik is friendly, aru, just sometimes a bit hyper," Yao snapped Arthur's attention back to the others, clicking his fingers as if he was calling a dog.

Alfred put his chin on his hands, occupying most of Yao's desk, ignoring the kick coming from Yao. "Does the Academy have any proms?"

Arthur gazed at the first year, one large eyebrow raised. "Why are you asking?"

Alfred grinned up at him. "I'm just asking."

Francis, who sat behind Yao, reached forward and untied the Chinese's hair, much to his annoyance. Twirling the rubber band while Yao leaned backwards to try and snatch it away, he replied, "Why of course. Winter prom, school anniversary prom, and summer prom. And also graduation dance if you're graduating." He added with a wink, tossing the rubber band back to Yao.

"You and Yao would be graduating at the end of the year, da?" Ivan asked. Yao nodded.

Arthur placed one hand on his hip, turning to Alfred. "Why do you want to know?"

Alfred grinned cheekily. "Because when it comes to school proms, obviously there will be couples!"

"What couples, aru?" Yao pulled a face. "The female population in the school isn't even half of the male population, aru."

"Alfred..." Arthur leaned over, in a warning tone. "What exactly are you thinking?"

"Nothing, geez!" Alfred stuck his tongue out at the English. "It's only one month till November, and I guess winter prom is held before the holidays?" He glanced to the two seniors.

Yao and Francis exchanged a glance and nodded. "I hope you're not going to confuse our school with your American schools, aru," Yao said disapprovingly.

"Who do you take me for?"

"A bloody git!" Arthur snapped.

"That hurts!" Alfred pretended to fall and faint, but sprang up a moment later. "Hey Yao, do you think Wan likes Kiku?"

Yao jumped, spluttering. "What makes you think that, aru?"

Alfred grinned. "I'm in the same class as her, duh. And hanging out with Kiku sometimes help too. You should see her when Kiku is near her. She gets all red..."

"Like a tomato!" Francis added jokingly, making his expression look a bit like a certain Spaniard in their class Antonio.

"Sure..." Arthur shook his head. "Anyway, it's none of our business."

"That's right, aru!" Yao agreed. "I don't mind since Kiku is a decent person, aru, but honestly, aru!"

"I'm curious on how someone can act around someone they like, da." Ivan said thoughtfully, with his oh-so innocent face.

"You don't want to know, Ivan," Arthur cut in before Alfred could reply. "Speaking of which, we should be going now."

Alfred pushed himself off Yao's table. "Catch ya later!" He sped off, but not without receiving a whack on the head from Arthur. Arthur waved Yao and Francis goodbye before following Ivan out of the classroom.

-o-

"It's not even November yet! It's cold! Brrrrr!" Rachel complained, sitting in her desk in their classroom while waiting for the lesson to begin.

Wan, who sat beside her and right next to the window, grinned. "Not used to cold weather?"

"No way! I wish this was Singapore, where weather is warm the whole year." Rachel replied.

Yong Soo snorted. "Don't let Ivan hear you say that or he'll stalk you day and night."

Max leaned on Charlotte's empty desk that stood in front of Rachel's. He crossed his arms casually. "It's just a little cool today," He informed Rachel. "It's not even remotely cold."

"It gives me goosebumps." Rachel retorted. Yong propped himself on Wan's desk, while Rachel lifted her feet and placed them on the desk. Max twitched at the sight. "Didn't Arthur teach you anything about being ladylike?"

Rachel pulled a face. "Well, yeah. I _am _a lady, just not the kind you see everyday." She added jokingly, where Wan and Yong laughed appreciatively just as Alfred bustled in, followed by their teacher, and Rachel instantly withdrew her legs and placed them back onto the floor. Max snorted before returning to his seat.

* * *

**So I've decided who I'm gonna pair the four with. But I'm not telling! You can guess though~ And if you know, and I mean, seriously KNOW (like I told you or something), don't spoil it in the reviews. You can make it look like a guess, but don't say, "Oh I know! You told me and blah blah blah..." and that kind of stuff.**

**I just need to work on scenarios to pair them up.**

**Oh by the way, I live in Hong Kong, so the school year I'm following is gonna be like HK's. If you think, "Hey wait, Japan's school year isn't like that..." Well I'm sorry. My mom said that Japan and HK are slightly similar for the school years...but I can't be too sure.**

**By the way, can you guys help me? I want to know what name I should give to Vietnam and Thailand~**

**Reviews are love~~~  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**...I don't know anymore. :I No just joking.**

**Okay, so North Korea (Hyung) is gonna be in this chapter! The NK I'm using belongs to Lo-wah from Deviantart, and he is used (ohohoho) with permission. And also, he might bit a tad OOC (oh screw it, he might be VERY ooc) so...please don't kill me?**

**DRAAMAAAAA. Or not.  
**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

Saturday. At last.

Like any typical Saturday afternoon, people were mingling about in shops and parks. The day had pleasant weather, and not even a cold breeze; it was still fairly warm.

"Hyuuuuuuung..." Yong Soo called, standing outside his brother's room. Unlike Yong, Hyung's room had locks. It was as if he didn't allow anyone to go inside because he has a bunch of secrets inside.

"What." Came the reply, a gruff and muffled voice that belonged to Im Hyung Soo.

Yong knocked on the door. "It's your turn to do the groceries, Hyung."

There was a pause, and Yong heard some fumbling. "Is it?"

"It's this week, remember?"

There was some bustling inside and Yong heard the locks unlocking. Then the door creaked open and Hyung stepped out. Yong took a step back as his brother came out of his room, closing the door behind him with a bang.

"You do remember what happened the last time I went, remember?" Hyung said.

Yong nodded. The last time Hyung went out shopping, he bumped into Alfred. It wasn't pretty. That was why Yong decided to go with him this time, so if they bumped into Alfred or someone Hyung wasn't in good terms with, Yong could quickly get in between.

"I'm coming, da ze!" Yong said as Hyung headed for the door.

Hyung glanced over his shoulder. "I thought you said it's my turn?"

"Er...yeah, but I want to make sure you don't fight with Alfred again, da ze!"

Hyung rolled his eyes. "Then it makes no difference whether it's my turn to go or not. And I can take care of myself."

"Oh come on, da ze," Yong followed his brother out the door. "I'll just be following. You won't notice I'm there at all!" Hyung just grunted in reply.

Not really.

Yong Soo chattered away noisily, talking about this and that, just nonsense really. Hyung Soo did what he often did, ignore him. It wasn't hard, considering that he had done it so many times before, he was pretty used to it.

They reached the supermarket and Yong stopped his chattering and watched as his brother took a basket from the pile beside the entrance. Yong decided to let Hyung go off and buy the usual stuff before he wandered off.

He was just passing the candy aisle when he heard a familiar voice. Yong stiffened and hid behind a stack of chocolate bars.

"Honestly, Alfred, have you already forgotten? The fish is on that side."

"Of course I haven't forgotten, Mattie! I just...ah...wanted to explore a bit."

"The supermarket isn't that big for any exploring Al—Oh hey Yong!" Yong jumped up and spun around to see two blondes standing behind him. Matthew had his usual red hoodie on, with a white maple leaf in the middle, and slightly skinny blue jeans. Alfred stood a little behind, holding a basket and a list. Both were staring at him in surprise.

"What a coincidence!" Matthew blinked. Then he frowned. "What are you doing hiding behind the chocolate bars?"

"I'm not hiding, da ze!" Yong protested. "I was just...just taking a closer look at them, da ze!"

Matthew looked a bit confused before shrugging dismissively. "Oh well. What are you doing here anyway, Yong?" Alfred added, frowning at his list.

Yong stood up fully and let out an embarrassed cough. "Uh, well, I'm here doing grocery shopping. With my brother." He added, glancing cautiously at Alfred.

Alfred blinked at that while Matthew nodded. "I see...where is he?" The Canadian glanced over Yong's shoulder, as if expecting to see Hyung standing behind Yong and glaring at Alfred like he normally does.

"Somewhere..." Yong gestured with his hand. "I let him do his shopping while I go off. It's his turn to do the groceries anyway, da ze." He informed the two North Americans.

Matthew nodded again while Alfred shrugged. "Let's hope I don't run into him..._again..._" He shuddered. "He scares me."

"Oh?" Matthew glanced towards him in amusement. "I thought the 'hero', as you claim to be, isn't afraid of anything?"

"Heroes are bound to be afraid of _something!" _Alfred protested. "Just not everything!"

"Who would be afraid of everything anyway, da ze?" Yong tilted his head.

"Dunno," Alfred shrugged. He reached for a chocolate bar on the stack that Yong had been hiding behind. He glanced at it before tossing it into his basket.

"Al! Didn't your mom say no more fat and sugary stuff?" Matthew said, putting his hands to his hips. "In fact, she purposely told me to make sure you don't eat anymore!"

"Oh, chill it, Mattie," Alfred waved his hand at him dismissively. "I _never _get fat! And it's not like my parents or whatever are around to see me stuff myself."

"Well, yeah, but that's exactly why they told me to make sure!"

While the two bickered away, Yong couldn't help but wondering where his own parents were. They were probably in Mexico by now, since the last postcard they sent had a Mexican hat on it. They had the travel bug. As he thought of that, he remembered that Rachel, Max and Wan's parents weren't even around anymore.

"It's your own money anyway, buy the whole candy aisle for all I care!" Matthew suddenly said, bringing Yong back to reality.

"Oh Mattie, you're so funny, you _know _that I can _actually _afford it, right?" Alfred snickered. "Who was it who bought you that many jars of maple syrup?"

"That was different!" Matthew pouted. "It was for my birthday, remember?"

"And don't forget Max's too!"

"Well, yeah, he has the same birthdate as mine but you only gave him maple syrup as well is because you were too lazy to think of anything else."

"Uuuh...guys?" Yong said hesitantly, interrupting the quarrel the two blondes were having.

"Oh, sorry Yong," Matthew turned back to him sheepishly. "Well, anyway, I think we'll just get going now. I still need to remind Alfred where the meat section is," He glared at the American before turning back to Yong with a more pleasant face. "Anyway, say hi to your brother for me!"

"But not me!" Alfred said. "Anyway, I _know _where-"

"Yong, there you are! I already paid and was looking for..."

Everyone froze and directed their gaze to someone standing behind Yong. That someone saw the two blondes and instantly stiffened.

"Oh...hi Hyung.." Matthew said nervously.

"I'm here Hyung!" Yong said as brightly as he could, silently cursing himself for bumping into Alfred. "Uuh...are you done already, da ze?"

"Yes..." Hyung said cautiously, all his glare directed to Alfred, who looked quite stiff. "What are you doing with _them?"_

"I, oh, er..." Yong twiddled his thumbs, wondering for the billionth time why he always had to act so nervous when Hyung was being all serious. They were the same age for God's sake! Oh maybe Hyung was just a minute or two older... "I bumped into them!"

"Yep. That's right." Matthew agreed, nodding as confidently as he could. Yong Soo felt relieved that at least he wasn't the only one speaking to Hyung.

Hyung looked like he was thinking about that for a while. Then he glanced scornfully at Alfred. "I thought you big-short rich heroes don't have to do their own shopping?"

Alfred narrowed his eyes at him. "Oh, I do my own shopping. It's nothing wrong, considering that I at least don't lock myself in my own room, ignore my own brother and people around me." Yong could see that Alfred had touched a nerve; Hyung stiffened at that and took a step back, as if shocked.

"Shut up, Al!" Matthew hissed, giving Alfred a warning nudge with his elbow.

Alfred ignored him and put his hands to his hips. "What's wrong there? Too weak to cope the truth?" He sneered. Yong rarely saw him like this. It was only with those he didn't particularly liked to be oblivious and annoying around did he talk like this.

"Give me your best shot, I still haven't forgiven you for banging my head into the ice cream freezer," Alfred said scornfully.

Yong was about to say something real random to break the ice when suddenly Hyung stepped forward until he was right up Alfred's face, before lifting a fist and bringing it down fiercely on the American's face. Alfred's glasses clattered onto the floor, but fortunately it was still intact.

Matthew let out a gasp as Alfred stumbled, dropping his basket, but he kept his balance. The supermarket wasn't exactly crowded, but several people suddenly crowded by the candy section, murmuring among themselves as they watched Hyung punch Alfred.

"Hyung! What..." Yong quickly cried, grabbing Hyung by his arm while Matthew picked up Alfred's glasses and grabbed onto Alfred's shoulders as if to make sure he didn't retaliate.

"Let's go Yong." Hyung turned away and grabbed his brother's hand, pulling him out of the supermarket.

When they had walked silently for a while until the supermarket was far behind them, Yong finally spoke. "Why did you have to punch him?"

When Hyung didn't answer, Yong pressed, "I know it was personal but, honestly?"

"Look, I-" Hyung began defensively but cut off when two figures suddenly approached them. Yong looked up in surprise. "Oh, hey, Rachel...Max."

"Hey Yong Soo! Hi Hyung! Nice to bump into ya'll," Rachel greeted them cheerfully. She was in a casual red shirt, though with long-sleeves instead of her usual short-sleeved shirt, and jeans, and typical sneakers. "What's up?"

"Nothing much," Yong forced himself to grin. "So where are you guys off to, da ze?"

Max answered, "To Alfred's. Rachel's going because she wanted to get back her Maths notes and I'm going because Yao wanted me to remind him to return the money he borrowed." Max was wearing a long-sleeved shirt with a black no-sleeved jacket and jeans, and Converse shoes. He had his hands in his pocket casually. Yong had to admit he was stylish.

At the name of the American, Hyung went stiff all over. Rachel glanced towards him curiously. "What's up?"

"We...we bumped into Alfred and Matthew, da ze..." Yong said wearily. "And Alfred was saying a bunch of stuff to Hyung and Hyung...punched him."

There was a long pause before Hyung exhaled sharply. "...Whew!" Rachel let out a soft whistle while Max blinked once. "Well...I suppose I wouldn't be surprised if I see Alfred with a black eye or something, eh?" She joked, trying to lighten up the mood.

Max glanced at the plastic bags Hyung and Yong were holding. "Been at the supermarket?" He inquired.

"Yeah, that's where we bumped into Matthew and Alfred..." Yong shrugged.

Rachel grinned. "Maybe I should've gotten Daniel to go grocery shopping a little earlier. Perhaps things might have been different?"

"Perhaps." Yong sighed. Hyung just remained silent.

Max and Rachel exchanged a glance. "Well, I guess we'll be off," Rachel said, hesitantly patting the two brothers on the back. "See ya laters, alligators!" And she ran off. Max rolled his eyes and followed her, walking briskly.

Hyung and Yong watched her go. "...She vaguely makes me think of Alfred," Hyung mused. "But less annoying and less prone to being hated."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yong was relieved to see a flicker of humor in Hyung's eyes. He gave him a playful nudge. "And Alfred is not prone to being hated, da ze! At least as far as I know..."

"He is. Your knowledge doesn't stretch much." Hyung rolled his eyes, making his way back home.

"No it doesn't, da ze!" It felt like a relief to put the past incident off their minds.

-o-

Rachel jogged all the way to Alfred's (really really big) house, while Max followed slowly. While waiting for someone to answer the door after ringing the doorbell, the two heard some muffled voices coming from inside.

"Sounds like Mattster," Rachel mused. "And Alfred."

Max didn't reply, but ring the doorbell a few more times. The two heard some stumbling and a click, and then the door opened. Matthew stood there, looking quite exasperated. "Oh hey Rachel, hey Max. What are you doing here?"

"Oh, the usual, getting Alfred to return some stuff," Rachel shrugged and Max nodded in agreement. Max glanced over Matthew's shoulder. "Something happened?" He inquired.

Matthew smiled wearily. "You can say that."

"Why are you here anyway?" Rachel asked.

Matthew shrugged. "Al's parents are away on a business trip, and his mom told me to make sure he doesn't get into any trouble and whatnot." While the two Asians exchanged amused glances, he widened the door. "Why don't you come in?"

They found Alfred sprawled on a couch in the (really really big) living room. He looked exhausted, and held an ice pack against his cheek.

"Whoa dude, you look like shit," Rachel burst out laughing. "I'm surprised you didn't use a hamburger as well."

"Shut up, Rach, it's not funny," Alfred grumbled.

"Did Hyung punch you?" Max asked bluntly, his hands still in his pocket. Alfred jerked up at this.

"Yeah.."

"At the supermarket?"

"Yes..."

"How did you know?" Matthew glanced over at the two.

Rachel shrugged. "We ran into Hyung and Yong on the way. Hyung looked like he was going to eat somebody!" She added. She glanced towards Max, who had his hood over his head, his back slightly hunched. "He looked kinda like that, but scarier." She pointed to Max.

Max rolled his eyes and pulled the hood down, pulling his hands out of his pockets. "You're exaggerating, Rachel."

"Mhmhm, sure," Rachel scoffed. She plopped down beside Alfred and pulled his hand off the ice pack, and peered at his cheek. Then she laughed. "I'm exaggerating? Who is exaggerating? It isn't even a bad bruise!" She lifted a finger and gingerly poked Alfred's sore spot.

Alfred let out a yelp. "Don't touch it! It hurts!" Rachel pulled a face at that, "Really? I always thought your cheek muscles were well-trained thanks to all that nonstop talking and hamburger munching." She handed Alfred back his ice pack.

"S'not funny!" Alfred scowled, but everybody could tell he was starting to lighten up. "Oh by the way, why are you two here?" He looked up suddenly.

"My Maths notes! Daniel's been nagging me about studying – even though we hardly have any tests – and I _was _going to obligingly do so last night but then I remembered my Maths notebook was with you." Rachel crossed her arms as she stared down at Alfred. "I really have got to stop letting you copy my notes just because you're too lazy to jot down notes during class."

"I'm not lazy! I'm just...er..." Alfred rolled his eyes, trying to find an excuse but sighed. "Alright fine. Anyway, it's in my room. Go trash it." Rachel sprang up and darted off.

"Brother got me to come here to remind you that you still need to return his money. It's been over a two months now." Max said flatly, taking a seat.

Matthew frowned. "Al! You've been borrowing money from Yao again? Didn't your mom give you enough money already?"

Alfred huffed and didn't answer. Matthew crossed his arms and gave him a pointed look. "Alfred...you've been buying meaningless video games and horror movies again, right?"

Alfred shrank into the sofa and Matthew sighed. "You know you're scared of horror movies, so why bother?"

"They're epic and exciting! Besides, Kiku's always here to play those 'meaningless', as you call it but actually isn't, video games and watch those movies with me!"

"You call this crap epic and exciting?" Matthew rolled his eyes, pulling out a random DVD cover from under the sofa. Max leaned over and saw the name of whatever movie it was. _The Haunted Photo. _He had seen it before, with Wan, Yong and Rachel, and everyone had agreed it was boring.

Rachel came out again, stuffing a notebook into her bag. "Whaaat? Horror movies? You know who's the expert!" She stood with her legs apart and hands on her hips, as if waiting for effect. Alfred and Matthew stared at her while Max ignored her.

"When were you an expert?" Alfred said.

"Since, like, forever!" Rachel huffed. "Guess what I found under your beeed~?" She waved a DVD box.

"Let me guess, it is _Scary Movie 4." _Matthew rolled his eyes without looking at the DVD box.

"Bingo!" Rachel jumped over the couch and crashed down next to Alfred, tossing the DVD onto his lap. "When will you stop watching this crap and watch some _real _horror movies, eh? Not that I'm saying _Scary Movie 4_ is crap..Just not...horrifying enough."

Max sighed. "Honestly, all your words are a bunch of bull."

Rachel made a face at him. "Oh what do you know! All you're into are those gangster, mafia and police kind of thing!" She screwed up her face. "I remember there was a series in Hong Kong. What was it called again? Oh yeah, _ICAC._"

"You talking about the movie or series?" Max quirked an eyebrow.

"Series! Not the _I Corrupt All Cops _thingy."

"It's not a _thingy, _please. Since when does Singapore have any good movies? Except for _I Not Stupid?_"

"Give me a break! Singapore has good movies too! ...I think. But that's not the point! Ever read _Mr Midnight, Mr Mystery, _or _True Singapore Ghost Stories?_"

"No, but I don't intend to."

"Enough!" Alfred cried, waving his hand. "Jeez. You guys argue way too much. Stop competing over whether Hong Kong or Singapore is the best. After all, America _is _the best." He grinned a goofy grin.

"Shut up!" Rachel hopped off the couch and threw a cushion at him. "Maybe I should lend you some _Mr Midnight _books? Or those..." She trailed away when Alfred pulled a face.

"No thanks!" Alfred paused. "Or maybe. Next time."

"Alfred!" Matthew sighed. "I can't stay over your house forever just to make sure nobody will be walking down your corridor in the middle of the night."

Rachel bounced up and down excitedly. "Hey hey hey, remember the story about this bride who jumped-" "NO." Alfred kicked the cushion back at her. "Save it for next time."

Rachel pouted. "Aww, alright then. Anyway, I'm off! You coming, Max?"

Max paused and nodded. "Fine." Then he turned towards Alfred, with an unusually stony face. "And Yao tells you that you've got another two weeks." After pausing to let the words sink in, he slipped his hands into his pocket and followed Rachel out of the door.

Matthew turned to Alfred, who looked quite shaken up. Matthew stifled a laugh and said, "Hey Alfred, I heard about this ghost story...about a Chinese guy who is always chasing an American friend for-"

"I get it!" Alfred snapped. "Jeez, don't scare me."

"Really, Al? Gimme your ice pack."

* * *

**:I Yeah. Just. Yeah. I don't even KNOW if Alfred or Hyung could act like that. Maybe. Maybe not. My mind just goes wild with ideas sometimes. 8D**

**_Scary Movie 4 _isn't crap or not-horrifying. Actually I never watched it before. My friend was telling me over the phone about it a few years ago and she made it sound hilarious and not scary so...yeah.. Oh and _The Haunted Photo _is NOT an existing movie. It's based off that episode where America and Japan was watching a so-called "haunted" movie and stuff. xD**

**Characters may be OOC. Don't kill me. I like bickering!HongKong&Singapore 8D It makes sense since these two are rivals in real life. And HK seems like the kind of guy who likes to agitate someone with his sarcasm. And my headcanon says Singapore is tsundere around HK and Iggy. England 'cause...well, I could go on but I don't wanna bore you xD You can ask, though.**

**C'mon people! Entertain me! Review! AND GUESS. GUESS WHO THESE FOUR BETCHES ARE GONNA BE PAIRED UP WITH. I like guesses. Guessing games are fun. /shot Hell, you can even suggest who they can be paired up with and I can consider :I**

**Reviews are love~  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**I finished this, like, ages ago but totally forgot to upload it. -headdesks-**

**I watched several clips of the Hetalia dub and was bowled over by how awesome it sounded. Except for China. WHY CHINA? I don't even wanna know how Taiwan and Hong Kong would sound in their dub-versions if that's the case. orz. And Funimation totally region block'd the eps from people who are prob not from the US. OTL.**  
**

* * *

Chapter 5**

Wan sat in her room, absentmindedly tapping her hello kitty mechanical pencil on her sketchbook. She was wondering what to draw. For once in her life she had no idea what to draw.

Wan tilted her head and flipped through her sketchbook, looking over her past drawings. She remembered when she was in elementary school, Kiku would draw pictures with Max and she would watch, because at that time she had no interest in drawing. Max's characters often end up unusually comical or buff, and Kiku gave up teaching him his own style and just drew with him. Then that's when Wan decided to impress Kiku by drawing as well. He _was _impressed, and when in middle school she started developing a crush on him, she was determined to draw even better.

Kiku was in the art club and Wan joined in as well, just hoping she could get closer to him, or at least just spend more time with him. Even though there were many times when they barely conversed, Wan felt quite satisfied that at least she got to see him without Yao or Max or someone teasing her and making a huge fuss.

Just recently, they had assignment to draw something they really liked. It could be a painting, sketch, crayon drawing, as long as it was creative and was something they really liked. It could be a scenery, animal, building, object, person...

_Person._

Wan's thoughts wandered to Kiku again. He was really kind. He really loved animals, especially small ones like kittens, puppies and rabbits. He was good at almost everything. He was popular in school. He was creative. He knows when to speak and not speak. He was clever.

Wan quickly shook her head. _What am I thinking? I need to focus! _She scolded herself. But she honestly had nothing to draw.

She glanced around her room. The walls were pink, her bedsheets were pink, almost everything in her room was pink, white or red. Occasionally there were some yellow, blue and green and other colours. It was purely a girl's room.

What could she draw? The photo of her and her brothers? Her pink hello kitty plushie? Her stack of mangas and doujinshi? Her whole room? Her house? Maybe Max? The flower in the corner of her room? The...wait a minute.

Wan took a hair clip off. It was a huge hair clip, with a large, fluffy pink fake plum blossom that looked real. Kiku gave it to her when she was in elementary school. She wore it everyday. When she didn't wear it, she always felt something was a bit off, and her brothers or friends would ask if there was something wrong.

_I know what to draw now! _Wan thought triumphantly. Excitedly, she scrabbled for her equipment – she decided to use crayons – and carefully placed the hair clip on the edge of her window, where she could also draw some scenery at the same time.

It was easy, now that Wan knew what to draw. To be honest, Wan had drawn flowers in the past and was quite good at it, so drawing a simple flower hair clip was no problem. And it was true. A little more than half an hour, she was done.

There was a huge block of empty space above the drawing. To be exact, Wan had been too focused on drawing perfectly rather than her space. The flower looked perfect, but the negative space made it look a bit off.

"Maybe I can add a bit more detail..." Wan said aloud, replacing the hair clip back onto her head. She glanced around her room. Honestly, there was nothing else.

_Well, at least I _drew _something! _Wan decided. She put her crayons nicely in her box, put the sketchbook on the table, where she could still see the drawing, and gazed out of the window.

It was a pretty good day for a Saturday. Yao had sent Max off to go to Alfred's house while he himself went to study at Malik's place (it was either that or Francis, Antonio and Gilbert. Obviously one would choose the former over the latter three) so it was nice and quiet. As if out of instinct, Wan reached for the binoculars she had gotten from Adelheid who had gotten from Elisaveta. It was cute and light green. Wan looked out of the window with it.

Up close, she could see a squirrel rushing up a tree, obviously doing some last minute preparations before the cold came, and some people chatting across the street. She moved away and saw her Vietnamese friend Ly Thi Kim going out for her daily jog (she always took one in the morning and one after lunch, and then occasionally one in the evening), her long ponytail blowing behind her. Up ahead she could vaguely see Alfred's house; it was relatively far away and was blocked by a few other buildings.

Then Wan moved to the other side and saw the apartment building that Kiku lived in. She, although it would be wrong, gazed at the windows, but most of them had the shades drawn. Then suddenly she felt her breath catch.

It was Kiku. Sitting be his window. Reading intently.

Wan continued to stare through her binoculars. Then she reached for her crayons, still staring.

-o-

"Wan! Wan?" Somebody walked into her room. "Wan! What are you doing, aru, are you a peeping tom, aru?"

Wan jumped up, almost dropping the binoculars. She didn't realize she had been staring for that long. Then she noticed she was holding a beige crayon, and beside her lay a pink and black crayon.

"Uh, yes, Brother?" She looked up at Yao's confused face.

"Max will be home soon, and I've just come back from Malik's place, aru," He said. "Mind helping with dinner, aru?"

"Uh, sure, no problem!" Wan sprang up, put away her crayons and closed her sketchbook without a second glance before following Yao to the kitchen.

-o-

Max strolled along the pavement quietly as Rachel chattered nonstop beside him. She was saying something along the lines of Maths, laksa, ghost stories and shopping. Honestly, Max didn't care.

And he was almost too happy when they reached Rachel's place. She lived in a fairly big house, with her two brothers.

Rachel tilted her head. "Hmm, I guess Yao went home early or something, he was studying with Malik," She observed the spot where, most likely, Yao's bicycle should have been. "Oh well. See you later, Max!" She waved him off and inserted her house key into the door before disappearing inside, hollering 'I'M HOOOOME'.

Max rolled his eyes. He always wondered where she got her energy from. She, Yong Soo and Alfred were just the same. Shaking his head in exasperation, he walked home.

"Max?"

Max looked up, half-expecting it to be Rachel appearing out of nowhere. But in front of him, her jog slowing down to a walk, stood Ly Thi Kim.

Kim was from Vietnam and a close friend of Yao and Wan. She was in the the same school as them and was a second year. She had long black hair tied into a long ponytail, and today she wore a simple green shirt and khaki shorts.

"What are you doing?" Kim asked.

Although he was younger than her, Max was actually taller than Kim by at least an inch. He used to be shorter than her until somewhere in middle school when his height suddenly shot up.

"The usual. Running errands for Yao." Max replied.

"And what would it be this time?"

"Reminding Alfred about the amount of money he still owed Yao." Max replied flatly, waiting for a response.

There was a pause as Kim comprehended these words. Only one word ran through her mind. "Alfred. You mean, Alfred F. Jones?"

"That's him."

Kim shook her head and growled, "Sounds just like him to borrow money off Yao and not return it." Max remembered that she and Alfred were not exactly on good terms currently, though he couldn't exactly remember why.

_Both Hyung and Kim really resent Alfred. I wonder if Alfred is just misunderstood or is he very prone to being hated? _"So...what are you doing?" Max asked Kim.

Kim shrugged. "Jogging. Like always."

"Well don't let me get in the way," Max quirked an eyebrow as he gazed at her and withdrew one hand from his pocket to wave her goodbye as he walked past her. "See you." Then he went on his way.

Kim watched him go. Somehow, she always found his character rather curious and peculiar. She stared after his retreating back for a while before turning around and continue her jog.

-o-

Wan absentmindedly chopped the vegetables as Yao busily stirred the soup. She remembered how she had watched Kiku for...how long? She had finished her drawing at about five-thirty...and Yao came back at about...about six maybe? That meant...that meant she had stared at Kiku for about half an hour!

She remembered when Yao had called her, Kiku had briefly looked up from his book and glanced around, and gazed out at the window before standing up and drawing the shades. _Oh god, he didn't _see_ me right? _Wan thought, panicking.

Then she told her to stop being so ridiculous, as her finger narrowly escaped the knife. After all, she hadn't been able to see Kiku without the help of her binoculars.

But still.

"Are you done yet, Wan, aru?" Yao asked from where he stood.

"Hmmm...?" Wan blinked, her hands pausing momentarily.

"The vegetables, aru." Yao looked at her puzzedly.

Wan jolted and glanced down at the green. She was usually quite skillful, but today the vegetables looked a mess. She seriously needed to start concentrating a bit more. "Oh, sorry, um...almost."

"Okay, aru, but don't take too long, aru!" Yao turned around to check on the rice cooker.

_Okay...focus, Wan, focus! _Wan told herself firmly. _I'll just deal with the Kiku issue later, after cooking or something. _She didn't want Yao to start fussing over her all over again.

_Knock knock! _Wan jumped in fright. She suddenly had an image of Kiku standing at the front door, wearing a frown and knocking on the door. And obviously he would want to know why she was staring into his window with a pair of binoculars, right? Why she was watching him read. Hands trembling, she lowered her life.

"Ow!" Wan winced. She instantly let go of the knife and grabbed her wrist, lifting her left index finger. There was a long red line over it, where a bulging bead of blood was slowly coming out. "Ow ow ow ow ow!"

"Wan?" Yao spun around in alarm. "What happened, aru?"

"My finger! Ow!" Wan cried.

"What did I tell you, aru? Be careful, aru!" Yao began fumbling about, looking for a band-aid while whoever was outside continued to knock on the door. "Coming, aru!"

Yao grabbed Wan's hand and thrust it towards the tap, and Wan relaxed slightly as cold water splashed over her finger. "Wait for a moment, aru," Yao told her. He wiped his hands with a towel before hurrying towards the door.

The door clicked open and Wan heard Yao say, "Didn't you have the key, aru?" and instantly knew it was Max.

Yao hurried back into the kitchen the next minute and Max followed slowly.

"What happened?" Max asked when he saw Wan.

"Clumsy Wan cut her finger, aru," Yao said. He closed the tap and looked around for a band-aid.

"It's still bleeding," Wan informed him as she pressed a tissue paper on her wound.

"Aiyaaa! Where do I keep the plasters, aru?" Yao complained.

Max watched his older brother fumble about for a while before calmly walking towards a drawer. He pulled it open and took out a plaster. Then he turned to his sister and took her hand.

"Ouch, careful..." Wan flinched as Max slowly wrapped the plaster around her finger.

Wan let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding when Max finally let go of her. That what she liked about her twin brother. He was cold and sarcastic and emotionless on the outside, but inside, he was gentle and caring. She just wished Rachel would stop competing with him sometimes.

"Thanks." Wan said gratefully.

"No problem. And..." Max turned to Yao, who was still looking around. "Brother, I'm done."

Yao jumped. "Oh. Oh! Okay, aru. Are you okay Wan, aru? Does it hurt, aru?"

Wan nodded hastily. "No problem! It's fine now." She moved her finger experimentally.

"Okay, why don't you do something else – nothing dangerous though, aru – for now, aru. I'll handle dinner," Yao gave Max a sidelong glance. "And Max could help, aru." To which Max nodded without any argument.

Dinner was quiet. Only Yao was talkative. He spoke about the usual, his classmates, the school, and other bunch of stuff. Max was never talkative in the first place. He quietly ate, itching and resisting the urge to use a fork instead of chopsticks. Wan normally would talk a lot as well, but after the...thing with Kiku, she wasn't exactly quite talkative. She kept wondering if Kiku saw her.

_Oh god...I wonder if he'll say anything about it on Monday._

_Don't be ridiculous, he didn't see me, obviously!_

_How should I know? He might have super-good eyesight. Oh god, maybe Yao would bump into him tomorrow and he might mention it...!_

_No way. Kiku was always the quiet type, he probably won't talk so much in front of Yao. He was always quite cautious when talking. Maybe he won't say anything at all. Maybe he'll think he was having an illusion. Or maybe he didn't see anything at all!_

_Shut up, okay? I'm trying to eat._

"And so Arthur said, his cooking is edible, aru!" Yao's voice suddenly broke her thoughts.

The corner of Max's mouth twitched. "I don't think so."

"That's what I said, aru," Yao nodded. "But he wouldn't believe me, aru. Not even when Francis joined in, aru. Francis said _his _cooking is the best, aru."

Wan cautiously said, deciding to join in the conversation, "Francis' cooking _is _pretty good..."

"But mine is better, aru!" Yao protested. "All of the Westerner's food are rip-offs, aru. Pasta obviously were noodles, originally, aru! Marco Polo and all that."

"How do you know," Max said quietly. "Besides, there's no absolute proof that Marco Polo really did go through all that. He didn't write his book, he just talked about his adventures while he was imprisoned."

Wan gave him an impressed look. "Have you been studying, Max? Or did Arthur teach you all that kind of logic?"

"Arthur, aru!" Yao scoffed. "I taught Max everything he knows, aru! Arthur did nothing, aru!"

"Brother, Europeans depend on potatoes like how we Chinese depend on rice. How can you be so sure that Europeans ripped the Chinese off?" Max said.

"Never mind Europeans, aru," Yao shook his head. "Europeans know art. What about America, aru? Junk food, aru! And fat and oily pizza, aru! And cheap Chinese food that aren't remotely Chinese, aru!"

"Brother, you're looking on the surface of Americans. You should look deep inside America tradition and culture..."

Wan was always used to this kind of bickering. Listening to her two brothers, she let the thought of Kiku slip away from her mind and relaxed.

* * *

**Apffffft. Kim is Vietnam, in case you didn't know. I randomly made up her name so it may sound...weird.**

**So anyone guessed the pairings yet? kolkolkol..**

**I feel like I should make a note of something but I don't know what...errr...oh well.  
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**Reviews are love~  
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	6. Chapter 6

**An update at last! I had HUMONGOUS writer's block lately, and after a long (ADD-filled) discussion with darkzerogal, I've worked out most of the story plot. Though I might alter it as I go along.**

**This chapter has some...well, it's a little boring in my opinion. :I But if you must know, I don't quite mind that it's short; 'cause even awesome stories have short chapters! Plus, what else do you expect? More details? I've read stories with seriously long chapters and believe me, sometimes I get quite bored. Though there ARE stories with srsly long chapters that keep my interest, like You Got HaruhiRolled!  
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* * *

Chapter 6**

Rachel waited outside the train station, looking around to see if she could catch a glimpse of Wan or Charlotte among the crowd. It was sunday, the three girls had agreed to go out and do some shopping.

"Rachel!" Rachel looked up at the sound of her name. Charlotte came bounding up to her, her pigtails flapping behind her, with Wan right behind her.

"Hey," Rachel greeted them, slinging her back over her shoulder and standing up. "About time!"

"Where first?" Wan asked.

Charlotte tilted her head. "The mall, I think. I'm in need for a new jacket," She said, glancing at her shirt.

"Same! Brother keeps nagging me about it," Wan pulled a face. "He says all my old ones are worn to holes."

"C'mon," Rachel laughed as she led the way.

As the neared the shopping district, Charlotte suddenly spoke up. "Hey, didya hear?"

"'Bout what?" Wan asked.

"With the whole 'small girl population of the school' and all," Charlotte told them. "We won't be having, whatcha call it, a winter _prom._"

"Oho, Alfred won't be happy," Rachel commented. "You know how he is about these kind of things."

"Well he needn't worry!" Charlotte laughed. "I heard from Arthur. You know how Arthur is the whole student council president and everything? Stuck up know-it-all. _Anyway, _I overheard him talking to Yao about having a school fair instead! Have you ever heard anything like it?"

"'Course I have," Wan said. "What about it?"

"Just tellin' ya," Charlotte answered. She reached into her pag and pulled out a piece of paper. "I asked Toris about it and he showed me a draft notice of the fair," As they paused at the sidewalk, waiting for the green light, she handed the paper to the other two.

It was simple; with bright green and red colours. At the very top, huge letters in bold said, _World Academy Winter Fair! _Below it was the date and a list of activities. Games, performances, food, typical school fair activities really. Except...

"Pair ups?" Rachel and Wan echoed.

"Yup yup," Charlotte nodded. "Toris explained that there will be a little competition where people sign up in pairs – only if they want to – and they go about playing the games and everything and earning points and at the end of the day or something, the pairs that have the top points win something." She shrugged.

"Wow, did Arthur rip it off from this Valentine's carnival our middle school had last year?" Rachel mused.

"God knows, but it's a cool idea," Charlotte said. "Not sure how the system is though, Toris didn't mention everything." She said as Wan handed the paper over.

"We'll think about that later," Wan said as they neared the shopping district.

-o-

They spent the morning going from shop to shop. Wan bought herself a pink jacket, but refused to buy the red-and-pink scarf she saw because she'd rather have Yao's handmade scarf. Charlotte used half the money she had saved up during the summer to buy a camera. She said she needed a new one, especially since she was in the photography club. And Rachel, after refusing Wan's attempt to get her to buy some new jeans, got herself a few song albums. After that, they sat down in a random restaurant for lunch.

After giving their orders, Charlotte leaned forward. "Who do you want to pair up with?"

The question caught both Wan and Rachel off-guard. "What do you mean?" Wan asked.

"For the fair thing! I mean, it's still a long way off, but just asking!" Charlotte said, slurping on her iced tea.

"I don't know," Rachel frowned. "The time Max and I paired up for our ridiculous Valentine's carnival during middle school, both of us kept quarreling." She pulled a face. "We are not a pair."

"You never know!" Charlotte laughed. Then seeing Rachel would hit her if she commented more about her and Max, she quickly backed down. "So, if it's not Max then...?"

"No one," Rachel said flatly.

"Right...what about you, Wan?"

"What? Me?" Wan looked up. "No thanks! I mean, I wouldn't particularly mind being grouped with anyone, but no thanks."

"Do we _have _to pair up with the opposite gender?" Rachel asked.

Charlotte thought for a while. "Toris never mentioned that, but I don't think so."

"Then Wan and I could be in a group!" Rachel said, slinging an arm over her friend's shoulder, to which Wan responded with an eager nod. "And, I don't know, Max and Yong Soo can pair up or something."

"Fair enough, and maybe I can get Adelheid! Or Natalia, just to keep an eye on her," Charlotte added cautiously. She paused. "But what _if _we _had _to pair up with the opposite gender? What then?"

Rachel and Wan exchanged glances. "Oh, well, maybe Wan can go with Max, since they're siblings, and are pretty tight," Rachel decided.

"And you can go with Yong Soo!" Wan said, brightening. Rachel thought for a while then shrugged, "No problem with that."

"Come _on," _Charlotte laughed. "If you two keep going with the same guys over and over again, you two aren't going to get any boyfriends!"

"Where did _that _come from?" Rachel shook her head. "Too early for a boyfriend."

"What about Alfred?" Wan blinked. "You two always study together."

"That's 'cause the twerp can't get a good mark without somebody holding his hand!" Rachel protested. "What about Kiku and you?" She shot back.

Wan blushed. "No thanks! I don't think he'd want to anyway. Plus, the whole day would be a disaster then; I'd be too self-conscious."

"Okay okay," Rachel shrugged.

"How's your little art club going?" Charlotte asked teasingly.

Wan's blush grew heavier. "Fine! Just fine! We had a little homework. We're supposed to draw the picture of something that we love, or that is important to us."

Rachel and Charlotte's eyes gleamed with interest. "Who—I mean what did you draw?" Charlotte asked.

Wan inhaled and pointed to her hairclip. The two stared.

"Ooooooh!" Rachel lit up like a Christmas tree. "The one Kiku gave you! Aaaah!"

"Awesome!" Charlotte laughed. "Great idea!"

Wan puffed her cheeks out. "C'mon, it's not like I drew _him _or anything."

"Fine fine, do you have the drawing with you? I want to see," Rachel said.

Wan nodded. "Right here," She patted her bag and opened it. She pulled out her large, black sketchbook and handed it over.

Rachel opened the sketchbook and Charlotte leaned over to see. Rachel flipped to the correct page and Wan inhaled sharply, realizing what she had drawn.

_Seriously?_

Charlotte burst into peals of laughter. "You didn't draw him? C'mon, be honest, Wan." She giggled as Rachel handed the sketchbook over to Wan.

Wan took it shakily and stared at her picture. There was the drawing of her plum blossom hairclip, bright and pink, but below it was..._Oh god. _"No I didn't! There must be some mistake!"

"You serious? It looks just like him. Love your art skills," Rachel said teasingly. She was right. Wan _did _draw Kiku out like some kind of photograph. His hair was in perfect shape, and his face was in perfect proportion. The colours of his hair, eyes and skin looked just like his original self.

"I didn't-" Wan broke off as she remembered her seeing him through her binoculars. Seriously? Had she drawn him unconsciously or something?

"Oh god, I can't present this tomorrow! I just _can't. _He'd see!" Wan said, shutting her book and hugging it close to her.

"Draw another picture?" Charlotte suggested.

"It's not that easy!" Wan protested, shaking her head. "And I don't want to say I forgot to do it because it would make me look stupid in front of Kiku! He'd think I'm a complete idiot!"

"Calm down, Wan!" Rachel said, fanning her with a napkin. "It's not the end of the world!"

"Yes it is! I'd die of embarrassment. How can I explain the picture to the glass without making me look like a fool? And without making the whole world know I have a crush on him? And if I said I did it unconsciously or something, everyone would laugh, and obviously Kiku would think I'm ridiculous or...or..."

"Shhh, Wan!" Charlotte shook her to calm her. "Relax, just plan your presentation tonight slowly and carefully. After all, what's a presentation without good organization?" To which Rachel nodded in agreement.

Wan breathed in and out slowly and nodded. "Okay, fine." She said slowly. Oh god, what a mess.

-o-

By the time school began the next day, word had already gone through half of the student body about the winter fair. Trust Feliks to keep a secret! Toris should never have told him about it. But luckily, unlike Charlotte, he had not given him the draft notice, nor did he tell him about the whole pairing up thing.

But of course, Alfred, being the snoop he was, managed to pester it out of Toris. To Toris, Alfred was a good friend so he didn't mind. Though he wasn't quite aware that Arthur would be mad if Alfred knew.

"Git! Where did you hear such garbage?" Arthur snapped, stomping towards his locker during recess, with Alfred following.

"Garbage? You calling your own idea garbage, Artie? Hope not!" Alfred laughed.

"Well if you _must _know, which you shouldn't know, I'm not telling you!" Arthur said hotly, arriving to his locker at last.

"Aw, don't worry, Toris already told me everything," Alfred grinned. "And I already know who I'm going pair myself up with!"

Trust Toris to keep a secret! Blast it all. Arthur sighed and shut his locker. "Who would it be, now?"

"Not telling!" Alfred said. "But let's just say the person is someone we both know."

"Some great help. It could be Ivan for all I know," Arthur rolled his eyes. "Run along now, and don't bother me. And for God's sake, _don't _butt your nose into the student council's business!"

* * *

**Hi. Welcome back to Authur's notes! I think I've forgotten how to spell 'authur' and kept spelling 'arthur'. Curse you Iggy.**

**Boring chapter is boring. 'Nuff said. There'll (hopefully) be some Max, Yong Soo, and other characters in future chapters. I'm not that insane about my OC Rachel, mind you.  
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**Reviews are love~  
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